


Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness

by MoriartyMastermind



Category: Daredevil (TV), The Defenders (Marvel TV)
Genre: Explicit content is all contained in chapter 6, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-11
Updated: 2017-08-11
Packaged: 2018-12-13 20:57:39
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 17,634
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11768238
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MoriartyMastermind/pseuds/MoriartyMastermind
Summary: “He’s practically suicidal,” Luke elaborated. “He got himself into danger today with no regard for his own safety. And I don’t know much about what he does outside of this- but from the way it sounds this is his entire life.”“As far as I understand, it is,” Claire confirmed for Luke. “He used to be better about it, yeah he was still reckless but not to the point of this.”“You said he had a friend,” Danny commented. “Maybe we could get him back into contact?”“That’s a slippery slope you don’t want to go down,” Claire waved a hand at Danny. “Trust me.”***Based onthis promptArt bysamthebirdbae





	1. Phase One

  

Look, it’s not as if they didn’t like Daredevil. He was an awesome fighter, he has these _insane_ senses… It’s perfect for getting them out of danger when needed, and Daredevil is one to always be up for the sneak attacks (because fighting in pitch black is something he specializes at.) He’s good at arguing and makes great steps of logic when they have plans of attack…despite the fact he tends to not _follow_ those plans of attack.

But he’s just, well, he never loosens up.

Ever.

Doesn't help that they still haven’t managed to wrestle the identity out of him. The best they’ve gotten is a mumbled, “Call me Mike.” Which was all agreed upon it was certainly _not_ his real name.

The rest of the Defenders team just dealt with it …A silent agreement that Daredevil could deal with his own problems. Jessica didn’t have many friends of her own, Luke understood his need for privacy, and Danny- well Danny was always pretty peppy, so he didn’t care much.

But as with most stories, there’s always the moment when the penny drops…It just so happens it came in the form of Matt getting fucking shot.

Out of all the team, Matt was the most vulnerable to attacks. Luke didn’t get hurt, Jessica had a heightened resistance to harm and tended to take people out with one punch, Danny’s iron fist always came in handy (get it, handy)- and getting him hurt just spurred him on and made him stronger. Daredevil? Daredevil had some “glorified armor” as Jessica so helpfully put it

You’d think that this lack of protection would inspire Matt to lighten up a bit, maybe let some of the team take over for him when he’s getting just a bit too beat up. This, however, was not the case.

“Double D! You need to stop throwing yourself in the shit-cluster and come over here!” Jessica yelled as she beat gang members off of her. 

The Defenders had gotten a tip where the base of operations for a large faction of an active gang in Harlem was. What was not expected was just _how many_ of them there were. It was as if the group was never ending, like a swarm of ants. Sure, they weren’t the best fighters- but the sheer number of them was overwhelming.

Matt was in the worst part of the fight, the bright red costume was hardly visible as members let out stray punches and swooped in knives. They were in a warehouse, shipping containers strewn throughout the large area.

Jessica sighed and tried to make her way to him, she caught Luke’s eye in the chaos and shouted, “You need to get over to Daredevil! Right now!” She swiveled her head to get a glimpse of yellow light that was a key indicator for Danny, “You too! We can deal with the rest of them later.”

They all got together to throw the gang members off of Matt, whose exposed mouth was covered in blood and set in a harsh clench. By the time the large cluster of people were pretty much all passed out, other gang members seemed to get the hint and left the fight when their opportunity was open.

Matt stood up and stumbled in the middle of the three of them. “I’m fine,” he managed to grind out. He clenched his fists and stood up straighter. “There’s one more in the shipping container to my right,” he tilted his head. An odd little quirk that the team had associated with him. “He’s hiding out, the rest of the gang are on the outer edges…probably getting away.” His breathing was wet, and heavy.

“We’ll leave them,” Luke said. “No need to chase down vans.”

“I think the cops can deal with the rest of the gang- we’ve got plenty of evidence gathered here,” Danny smiled as he gestured to the passed out men around them. 

“I think Luke should go into the shipping container,” Jessica suggested. “For all we know the guy could have a gun- and he’s the one impervious to bullets. We also need to get _you_ to a hospital.” Jessica pointed at Daredevil.

“No hospital, I’ll be fine.”

“Then you can go to Claire.” Luke offered, “We trust her. And she lives just a block away from here.”

Matt frowned and opened his mouth as if he was about to answer before shooting off in a run to the direction of a shipping container.

“For fuck’s sake,” Jessica said exasperatedly before they all went after him. “What is it?!”

He didn’t answer them and instead went into the container, when the sound of gunfire rang out. All of them caught up to him to find a man standing over Matt with a handgun…Matt’s side was gushing blood and he had his hand over it in a tight grip.

Luke was the one who reacted first and thrust himself in front of the gun- it shot, but bounced straight off of him. He took it and bent the barrel before shoving the man against the container wall, knocking him out.

“Fuck,” Jessica was over to Matt and pressed against his side. “That was the stupidest shit I’ve ever seen you do, Mike. Why the hell did you just run in here like that?”

Matt snorted in half-assed chuckle, “I’ve done worse.”

Danny was over him, as well, “It’s kind of scary that I believe that. We need to get you to a hospital right now.”

“Claire,” Matt coughed out.

“Claire then,” Danny assented.

Luke came over and put his hands under Daredevil to lift him up. Matt let out a pained gasp and began breathing in harsh whistles through his nose. “Don’t worry, man. We’ll get you out of here. Claire is near by,” Luke assured him.

Several stressed out minutes later and they were all at Claire’s door. Jessica didn’t bother to knock and instead forced it open.

Claire was at her dining table eating noodles and immediately stood up when she saw Jessica, “You could just knock, you know. It’s not all that hard,” but she quickly changed her tone when she saw Matt being carried in unconscious. “Ma- Mike?! Goddammit.” 

She rushed to her bag of supplies and barked an order at Luke, “Set him down on the couch, get that suit off of him.”

“What about his identity?” Danny questioned and helped Luke get Matt’s boots off.

“You can leave the mask on, as long as he doesn’t have any visible head-wounds, I just want any armor out of the way of…” Claire rushed over with her bag and took a look at the wound. She grasped it with her gloved hands and squinted at it. “Looks like a through and through, which is good- didn’t seem to hit any arteries, so he’s probably passed out from the pain and _not_ blood loss. That’s good, really good.”

Claire did her work and soon enough Matt was sleeping soundly with a large bandage around his side, “He needs to watch out for infection- and not go out for a while. He was already healing two broken ribs.”

“He had broken ribs?” Luke shook his head. “He didn’t tell us anything about that.”

“He came to me three days ago for it…He wasn’t with you when it happened?” Claire had her face on, the one that said ‘why do I have to deal with this shit’.

“We were going to be together that day but Mike gets a little territorial over Hell’s Kitchen- he said he was just doing a routine sweep of the area and wanted us to stay out,” Danny explained.

“Well we all know he’s a liar so that’s no surprise,” Jessica added bitterly.

“I don’t think he is,” Danny said to Jessica. “He’s just really secretive.”

“Same difference.”

Luke spoke to Claire, “You know the most about him. Does he have any friends? A job? Does he do anything other than this?”

“Well,” Claire ran her hand through her hair. “He _does_ have a job, but I don’t think he’s been doing it much lately. And he had a friend, as much as I remember, but recently? No, we’re all he has.”

“So _that’s_ why he gets all pissy every time I ask him if we should call anyone lest he gets himself killed,” Jessica said. “Last time I mentioned whether or not he has any emergency contacts the guy threw himself out of the window.”

“He’s in pain,” Danny said as he got up to sit cross-legged in front of the sleeping Daredevil. Everyone knew Danny didn’t mean the physical kind of pain.

“He’s practically suicidal,” Luke elaborated. “He got himself into danger today with no regard for his own safety. And I don’t know much about what he does outside of this- but from the way it sounds this is his entire life.”

“As far as I understand, it is,” Claire confirmed for Luke. “He used to be better about it, yeah he was still reckless but not to the point of this.”

“You said he had a friend,” Danny commented. “Maybe we could get him back into contact?”

“That’s a slippery slope you don’t want to go down,” Claire waved a hand at Danny. “Trust me.”

“You could at least tell us who he is,” Jessica pointed out. “It’s not like I care about him, but a real name? I’d like one.”

“That’s his choice to make.”

After a little more prodding on the team’s part Claire seemed to shut down. She refused to tell them more about him, and said it was his decision- not her’s. So stop bothering her about it.

Thus comes Jessica’s part in this story. Despite her claims of apathy, she was immensely curious and intended to find out exactly who Daredevil was. This was phase one in her plan. She hated calling him ‘Mike’ and distrusted him because of his refusal to tell them who he was. 

She is a private investigator, after all. This was a her job. It couldn’t be that hard.

She was wrong, or at least for a moment before figuring it all out.

Her first try at figuring out Daredevil’s identity was following him home…She figured if she kept far enough away, on the ground, maybe his eagle ears wouldn’t catch her as he travelled by rooftop.

This only resulted in Daredevil throwing himself off the building, controlling his fall as he flipped to slow his descent before landing on his feet. Just in time to land right in front of Jessica with a scowl.(“Stop following me.”)

So she did stop following him and decided on a second form of attack. Alone in her office, she pulled up her laptop and began her research.

Mr. Devil was from Hell’s Kitchen, definitely born and raised, based upon how much he was obsessed with the area of the city… And he had superpowers. She had originally thought some form of psychic detection, but once he mentioned his ‘great hearing’ she had come to the conclusion of super hearing. Whatever the hell that entailed. Apparently knowing when someone is hiding out in a shipping container despite no outward signs

She had gotten her powers from an accident. Maybe he did? Male 25-35 years old possibly in an accident (chemical?) from Hell’s Kitchen. Then there’s always the possibility he was just born with the abilities.

That’s one damned large sample group. 

So she needed to narrow it down. When about Daredevil’s day job? Claire said he wasn’t working much _lately_. That meant he had once been in active work. He seems educated, speaks clearly, like a politician, lawyer or professor. Somebody who does a lot of research and is good with words.

She continually narrowed it down. A male 25 to 35 years old, possible chemical accident, born and raised in Hell’s Kitchen, in the midst of a career slump from a what was once a fairly respectable practice…Or at least a respectable job.

What she came up with was one Matt Murdock. She looked through images first, to figure out whether or not he _looked_ like him. After a look at that jawline, well, she was pretty much sold on the fact this guy was Daredevil. He even had red glasses in most his photos. What’s up with this guy and the color red?

She went to the main search and clicked on the first link she found, surprised to see “Young Hero Blinded While Saving Senior Citizen”

“Hero?” She mumbled to herself first, and took a sip of whiskey…Then took an even longer sip and said. “Blinded?”

She read the article, the boy, Matthew Michael Murdock, “Fucking Mike!” had saved an old guy crossing the street who was about to be hit by a truck. During the incident, the truck crashed, releasing a bunch of chemicals into the boy’s eyes…And what do you know it, the truck was from Rand Oil and Enterprises.

His father was a boxer, ‘Battlin’ Jack Murdock’ and was murdered. So that might explain his need for justice, and possibly his fighting skills…though not entirely.

The more Jessica considered it, the more she saw it as a real possibility. Daredevil was blind. If she could prove he was blind, she could prove he was Matt Murdock.

So how did he fight? Probably had to do with his super hearing. She considered the possibility of him using echolocation like a bat _._ That would also explain why he never really looked her in the eye, and tilted his head every time he was focused on something. He was listening.

She’s dealt with super strength, flying, glowing fists, and a man with crazy pheromones. A blind superhero was the least of her doubts.

Matt Murdock was also once a part of the law firm Nelson and Murdock- and right around the time they formed their group, Nelson and Murdock was dissolved after the Punisher trial and Murdock had set up a smaller legal clinic where the poor could get legal advice. It didn’t seem all that popular.

With some further research she found out that one ‘Elektra Natchios’. had left Murdock as her sole beneficiary post-mortem and he had received a shitton of money. _Great, another rich guy in the group_. There were quite a few articles questioning why Murdock was given her money, and how no one was left to tend to her father’s business. The explanation had been that Murdock and Natchios were in a relationship, and he was her sole connection amongst the sharks of business.

So Murdock’s life was basically a shit storm. He was blinded as a young boy, his father was murdered (no record of mother), his law firm failed, and his ‘true love’ (as she had assumed based on Nacho Girl) was also murdered.

No wonder the guy acted like he had nothing to lose, he really had nothing to lose.

Phase one was not yet complete until she fully proved he was blind, ipso facto, phase one underscore part two was initiated.

Literally labelled on her laptop as such:

“Phase1_1” and “Phase1_2”, carefully organized in the folder “If He’s Blind He Can’t Read This-The Plan to Expose Daredevil” on her desktop.

This wasn’t just clever folder naming on Jessica’s part, this was a meticulously constructed strategy. 

First she called Danny and Luke, “I’m finding some leads on some big players,” she explained with no detail. “Come over tonight so we can go over it.”

The moment of truth came when she called Daredevil, soon to be Matt, and told him the same.

As expected, Luke and Danny arrived first- before Daredevil had knocked on her window.

“You shouldn’t be climbing up buildings with your wound but it’s not like I can tell you what to do.” She told Matt as she opened the window and he crawled in. “And you’re probably wondering what I’ve found,” Jessica explained to the group. They were all on the other side of her desk now, and Daredevil was wearing his old outfit- the black pajamas he wore when he was called the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen. “I wanted to show Double D first.” She opened her laptop and turned it in their direction.

Matt tilted his head. Jessica smirked.

“I’m not good with technology,” Matt frowned.

“That’s fine, just open this folder.” Jessica pointed to her cleverly named item. Danny and Luke both raised their eyebrows in her direction when they read it.

“Why don’t you open it,” Matt only tilted his head further. “I told you I’m not good at technology. I don’t even own a laptop.”

“Just read it then,” Jessica asked innocently.

“What’s this about Jess?” Danny questioned.

“Nothing, I just want Mike to read this.”

Matt frowned even more and shook his head, “I can’t read it.”

“Why?” Luke asked.

“I’m dyslexic,” Matt said as if it was the most obvious explanation in the world.

“Then tell me the color of the folder, Matt,” Jessica prodded.

“I’m color bli- why did you call me, Matt?” 

“That’s your name, isn’t it? Matt Murdock? Blind lawyer turned vigilante?” Jessica walked up to Matt and put her finger on his forehead. “I figured you out _Mike_.” She pushed him back with the finger before taking it off. “Now you can stop being such a dumbass and learn how to take care of yourself.”

“Blind?” Danny was the first to react. “What do you mean, blind? When you-” he looked at Jessica. “When you said ‘finding some leads on some big players’ you meant Mike? Matt…whoever he is? Claire told us to leave it alone, Jessica. This is messed up.”

“Sweet Christmas,” Luke muttered under his breath.

Matt was silent, and took two steps back from the situation- as if to separate himself from the conversation. He leaned suspiciously toward the open window.

Luke took the next logical step, walked over to Matt and pushed him back toward the herd. “Don’t you dare jump out of that window, we need to have a conversation. While I don’t like what Jessica did,” Luke gave her a stern look. “I think that it’s helpful for us. We’re concerned for you. We think you’re taking unnecessary risks…us knowing your identity is helpful.”

“I don’t know why you’re getting pissy about it,” Jessica huffed and pointed a finger at Matt. “You’re endangering _us_ when you put yourself in crazy, avoidable situations- when we’re worrying about you getting hurt it impedes our entire group dynamic. Not only that, but you act miserable all the fucking time! You barely let us work in Hell’s Kitchen like some territorial guard-dog, I get you had a shitty life- but so did I…Most of us lost our damn parents! Most of us lost people we care about! That doesn’t give you the _fucking_ **_right_** to be suicidal!”

“Well I guess I won’t be needing this anymore,” Matt said calmly as he took off his mask. What everyone saw seemed to take them aback after he took it off, his eyes were tired, he had dark circles that nearly looked like bruises and his entire face suddenly adapted a drowsy exhaustion when met with the full picture. He had a cut along his nose, and his hair looked like it hadn’t been brushed in several days.

Jessica seemed to have sobered up after taking one look at him. “You look like shit.”

Matt had what might've been a smile on his face, but came out more like a grimace, “Not as if I know.”

“Was- is that a blind joke?” Danny had a wide smile. Probably in the realization about all those times Daredevil had muttered ‘Justice is blind’ ‘I just don’t see it’ and ‘Be my eyes’ with an odd quirk to his demeanor.

“So you’re blind,” Luke said.

“Problem?” Matt raised a single eyebrow.

“No problem, now I know why you can fight in the dark so well,” Luke deadpanned. They had all seen some crazy shit- it wasn’t as if this is where any of them would draw the line. “So…super senses, echolocation, I imagine.”

Matt nodded and rubbed his eyes, “Basically that, my others senses are turned up a thousand fold. I hear everything. I feel everything. I taste everything. I smell everything.…”

At that brief pause, Jessica frowned and blew her breath into her hand. Then took a glance at the water bottle on her desk, which was currently full of whiskey.

Matt continued, “So was this all an attempt at an intervention? The fact is, my life isn’t going so great, Ms. Jones. That doesn’t mean I need to be ‘saved’ I have confession for that.”

“Oh, so he’s a blind _Catholic_ lawyer vigilante, great.” Jessica abruptly dropped into her office chair and let out a melodramatic sigh. “I’m not saying you need to be saved, I’m saying you need to get laid.”

“What?” Matt looked absolutely stunned. Jessica had to fight to keep her facial expressions apathetic, because wow this man’s face was much more emotional then she thought. Just the uncovering of his eyes made a difference, he looked younger.

“You lost your lover didn’t you?” Jessica threw her head back, “Oh, woe is me, my girlfriend was killed. What a shame.”

Matt scowled. “You know nothing about that.”

“I know more then you think,” Jessica pointed out.

“Okay, let’s calm down. I don’t care about what this is about,” Danny butted in. “Actually, I think you need to get some more of a life outside of crimefighting. So you're a lawyer…do you have a practice? Focusing on work, emptying your mind, does wonders for focusing your chi.”

Matt’s jaw clenched and his face went blank. A stark difference from the young emotional look he had on just a few moments ago. “I used to be partner in a law firm… But at the moment I have a storefront legal clinic, it’s not very popular.”

“Storefront legal clinic?” Luke questioned him.

“It’s where I give legal advice to people who can’t afford it. It’s free, they learn how to help themselves.”

“I could probably get you some clients,” Luke offered. “I know a lot of people who would appreciate that kind of help. So you’re not an attorney to anyone?”

“Haven’t been for a very long time,” Matt explained. “I single-handedly ruined my firm because of the Punisher trial and that resulted in our- my law practice shuttering it’s windows.”

“Single-handedly? I doubt that, I heard the guy went off the rails. He blew up in the trial, that wasn’t your fault.”

“It was,” Matt said simply, and he was now white-knuckling his mask in his hand. He quickly shook his head and then slipped the black rag back on. “Now you know my name, stop bothering me. If you don’t want to work with me then don’t, if I’m putting you in danger then I’ll stop. All I ever wanted to do was to protect _my_ home, I didn’t ask for this team…It just happened. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going back to my ‘shitty’ life.” Matt went to the window and flipped out in one graceful movement.

“I actually thought we were making progress there for a second,” Danny pondered.

“Never get your hopes up, Danny. You’ll always be ripe for disappointment,” Jessica said bitterly. She took the laptop that was open on her desk and opened her folder. “So phase one, part two is complete. I’m interested in getting ready for phase two.”

“Of what?” Danny went behind Jessica and leaned over her shoulder to look at the desktop. Luke did the same.

“Of fixing our little problem. We all know Matt is a problem, and he won’t be going away anytime soon- so unless we want to make throw him out of the group…?” Silence followed. “I thought not.” Jessica double clicked on the folder and renamed it.

“‘Operation Get Daredevil a Life’…I don’t like this very much,” Luke made a disapproved look. “I don’t like getting involved in other people’s drama. He’s a grown man, he can fix his own life.”

“Obviously not,” Danny argued. “He got himself shot because his chi is unbalanced, and his energy is dark. We need to brighten his life, give him peace.”

“Ghandi is right,” Jessica made a nod in Danny’s direction. “Are we all in agreement?”

“Fine,” Luke conceded. “I think we should get more information on the friend Claire mentioned. Now that we know his identity, she can’t argue otherwise.”

It didn’t take long for them, after a phone-call to Claire, to get the one name that they were sure would fix their situation…Matt Murdock’s former best friend and law partner:

Foggy P. Nelson, Esquire. 


	2. Phase Two

Foggy was doing…okay. Yes, he’d occasionally sit down and think that his heart was about to rip out of his chest. Other times he’d freeze while eating lunch and have to fight back the urge to hurl. But, to be fair, on the whole he was generally doing ‘great’ by the normal person’s standards.

Working at Hogarth, Chao, and Benowitz had so many benefits: free bagels, omelette bar, corner office, personal assistant, coffee runs, and a remarkably high stipend. 

He never ate the bagels, as if their taste was tied to many bittersweet memories, but that wasn’t the point. Foggy shook his head and took a look back at the case he was working on. It was fairly basic, an easy win, but he couldn’t get himself to focus on it. He had a meeting today, something about a ‘major opportunity.’ He sighed and went back to writing notes with his pen when his phone rang.

He picked it up,

“ _Mr. Nelson there’s somebody on the line asking for a ‘Foggy’. I told them they had the wrong number, but they’re fairly insistent. Would you like me to transfer the call?_ ”

“Uh,” Foggy let out a chuckle. “Yeah Barbara, go ahead. Foggy was my nickname.”

“ _Foggy from…Franklin?_ ”

“Yes, Barb.”

_“Alright, Mr. Nelson.”_

The line beeped and he heard the voice he had just been expecting.

_“What the hell, Foggy! I’ve been calling your cell for the past two hours! You agreed that we’d at least talk everyday! I may have lost one good friend, but I am_ **_not_ ** _losing another. So don’t you dare bail on me I will hunt you down an-”_

“Yes!Karen. I get it. Don’t worry, my phone just died and I forgot to charge it. I’m not abandoning you,” Foggy took a glance at the cellphone at his desk and then picked it up and plugged it in to the charger he had attached to an outlet.

_“Okay, well I would have called you later in the day, but there’s some chatter in the newsroom about something I think you might want to know.”_

Foggy froze for a moment, “About…” he lowered his voice. “About Daredevil? I already told you Karen I don’t care about what kind of crap he’s getting into with his new Defenders friends. They have his back, I don’t need to worry about him anymore. We’re not friendly.”

_“Foggy he got shot. We’re almost a hundred percent certain some gangbanger shot Daredevil.”_

“H-How?” Foggy’s resolve was sinking. He was ready for this moment as much as he didn’t want to think about it. The moment he’d be called to Matt’s funeral.

(Did you know he was Daredevil? I thought he was blind? How didn’t you know Foggy? Why didn’t you stop this Foggy? Weren’t you friends with him Foggy? Best friends?)

_“I can practically hear the wheels turning in your head, so stop the self pity party,”_ Foggy broke out of his stupor and listened intently. “ _We think he’s fine, the blood wasn’t enough to die. The man who shot him is just bragging about it and Daredevil hasn’t been on the streets recently. He’s probably recovering…there was no body, apparently the rest of the Defenders were with him with him at the time- I’m writing the story now.”_

“Wait, one second,” Foggy closed his eyes and rubbed the bridge of his nose with his hand. “You said the rest of the Defenders were with him…and he still managed to get  shot ?”

_“You act like it’s his fault.”_ Karen adopted a rather protective voice over the phone, which was odd to Foggy…Because, to his knowledge, Matt and her didn’t exactly break up on good terms and she hadn’t spoke to him in months.

“Well in this situation it probably is!” Foggy realized his voice had risen considerably, and he looked out his windows to see his assistant Barbara staring at him. He got up and closed the blinds. “Karen…why are you telling me this anyway? I told you I want nothing to do with Matt.”

_“Reconcile! Talk to him, Foggy, please. He’s been going overboard lately, reports are coming in of Daredevil getting sloppy. People are even wondering whether or not he has some sort of chronic injury holding him back.”_

“You’re one to talk, Karen,” Foggy leveled a cynical look at the phone, one he hoped she was receiving through telepathic waves. “It’s not like _you’re_ trying to get in contact.”

_“Well I don’t need him, he doesn’t need me. What he needs is you…And at least when I bump into him in the street, I say hello and smile in the hopes he super-senses it, I don’t just ignore him and keep walking-”_

“That was one time.”

_“Well, my point is, it’s not just affecting him- it’s affecting you. You’ve changed…Franklin.”_

“Oh shut up, Foggy was a child’s nickname or your weed dealer. Franklin is an attorney you can trust- people take me seriously now.”

_“Is that why you cut your hair?”_

Foggy brought his hand up to his hair and sighed. He still missed his lustrous locks, but the fact was- all the other male partners cut their hair the same way…And if he wanted to succeed and make his way up the ladder he needed to do the same.

At Foggy’s lack of answer, Karen took her cue to twist the knife. _“You’ve also lost an unhealthy amount of weight in a very short amount of time.”_

He did lose weight, probably because all he could stomach were salads and all the foods he avoided before Nelson and Murdock shut down. Every bite of bagel, pizza, even his favorite beers reminded him of Matt. _God,_ he thought _. I sound like some broken-hearted lovesick teenager._ But he looked on the bright side of things, people paid him more attention, a few people even asked him out…but it made him feel bad at the same time. As if who he was before was undesirable.

“That’s because I eat healthy now, I cut bagels out of my diet.”

_“You cut everything you_ **_used_ ** _to eat out of your diet.”_

No wonder Karen was at the damn investigative desk. Foggy glanced at his watch, “Karen I have an important meeting in ten minutes, I’m gonna have to go now. Just tell me when Daredevil is spotted again, or maybe I’ll read it in the paper.”

_“Wait-.”_

“Bye, Karen,” he hung up the phone before she could get another word in. She’d probably be blowing up his cellphone with text messages within the next hour.

Foggy took a deep breath and got ready for his meeting. ‘Major opportunity’. He had to be focused, new client maybe? Promotion? His mind raced with possibilities as he made his way through the large building.

Finally, he went to his assigned conference room and sat down. He lightly placed his notepad in front of him and put his pen in reach. The room was empty for just a few more minutes before-

“Holy shit,” Foggy let himself say before he cringed and stood up to greet the man before him. “I’m sorry Mr. Rand, about my language, I just didn’t expect this.”

Foggy held out his hand to shake and Danny took it in both hands. “Don’t worry about it, and call me Danny,” He said before letting go and sitting down. He gestured to Foggy who was still standing, “Please sit down, make yourself comfortable.”

Foggy nodded and quickly sat down. “So why am I here today Mr. Ra- Danny? Much less, alone and without your usual counsel.”

“Well…” Danny smiled. “As you know Jeri Hogarth is currently representing Rand Enterprises, but there are certain people on my end that need representing.”

“Your end?”

“You deal with vigilantes, don’t you?” Danny continued.

Foggy furrowed his brow. “I’ve represented Jessica Jones briefly, and helped Luke Cage with false charges but what does Rand Enterprises have to do with vigilantes?”

“You know about Iron Fist.”

“He’s a member of the Defenders.”

“I am the immortal Iron Fist,” Danny said seriously. “And I want you to become my official representation under the Defenders. In fact, I want you to represent the Defenders entirely. In case we get into any trouble.”

Foggy blinked. Once. Twice. Then he furrowed his brow again and ran a hand through his hair. “I- Does Hogarth know about this?”

“Well Hogarth knows I’m Iron Fist, and agrees that I need representation without revealing my identity.”

“I don’t think there’s any legal precedence for representation of individuals under aliases. You do understand that in order to represent the Defenders I’d need to have all your names. You’d need to be aware of everyone’s identity on the team…” Foggy shook his head. “And right now, under the current Sokovia Accords you _are_ acting outside of the law. I’m surprised they haven't gone after Jones or Cage.”

“Their names aren't in the papers anymore.” _Thanks to Karen,_ Foggy thought. “The general public doesn’t know their real names, especially Jessica, or that they’re even a part of the team. You could represent them under the names ‘Jewel’ and ‘Power Man.’”

Foggy rolled his eyes, who the hell came up with those names anyway? “You said you knew about everyone’s real name?” Foggy frowned.

“Yes.”

“So…you don’t think there’s any _other_ legal counsel you might want to take. Or maybe whether or not the _person_ might not want _me_ around. That might affect my ability to be…” Foggy made a searching look, he had no proof that Danny Rand was Iron Fist. He couldn’t give anything away that might compromise Matt’s identity. As much as he hated it. “…Impartial.”

“Matt doesn’t know anything about this, I was hoping you could talk him into it. Maybe go out for drinks…” Danny sheepishly put his hand behind his head, “Or something.”

“First of all,” Foggy leaned in and began speaking in a hushed voice. “Don’t just say his name so casually, I have no idea how good the security is in the building.” He looked around quickly and spotted a camera in the corner and squinted, “They’re always watching. And second of all, drinks? Really? Do you know nothing about us, or what happened?”

“Everybody has falling outs, just talk to him. He needs help, he’s miserable.” Danny smiled, “You have a forgiving aura. I’m sure you’ll come around.”

“A forgiving aur-? Did you come here for legal counsel or did you come here for a social call.”

“Weeell…” Danny leaned back in his chair, “We _do_ need an attorney. I didn’t lie about that.”

“Oh my _god,_ ” Foggy stood up and shook his head. He picked up his notepad and pen. “I have some actual work to do, so if you’ll excuse me.” He began to walk towards the door before Rand stopped him with a hand on his shoulder.

“Here, take this,” Danny held out a business card. “I wrote my personal number on the back, just think about it. Okay?”

“Think about reconciling with ‘he who shall not be named’ or about being your vigilante attorney?” Foggy stared at the card, with a look that, if Foggy was super- would probably be some kind of laser vision.

“Both,” Danny wiggled the card in-between his middle and index finger. Before what seemed to be an intense internal dialogue with himself, Foggy finally made a tight nod and took the card. Danny seemed pleased. “Good doing business with you!” Danny shouted as Foggy walked away in a faster than normal pace.

It may not have seemed possible, but Foggy’s day only got considerably worse from that moment on.

Two of his clients cancelled future meetings with him, and instead insisted on rescheduling for that day. A meeting from 4-5, then 6-7. All of this was a great deal of stress on Foggy, who already had a lot on his mind. 

It doesn’t help that these meetings didn’t go entirely as planned. His first was with Mr. Michael Stokes, a large imposing man, who had been charged with embezzlement for a missing $500,000. What’s especially harsh about the charges is that it would imply he stole from his non-profit company to help build homes for the homeless…Slowly stealing from donations to his company over the course of two years.

“I didn’t do anything, and they can’t prove it. First of all, the money I spent for my new things is completely legitimate,” Stokes had a faint country drawl and wrinkles adorned his face like a Mastiff. 

“Mr. Stokes…” Foggy looked through his notes. “The fact is you invested $50,000 dollars into a series of three companies with money unaccounted for. Your salary is $100,000 a year, the prosecution will question why you decided to spend half of your yearly money into,” He flipped through a few pages. “Tesla, Stark Industries, and Outback steakhouse.”

Stokes furrowed his brow and held up a meaty hand. “Now I’m gonna stop you right there. I invested in Bloomin’ Brands and they own a lot of restaurants not just Outback steakhouse…Though I do love their appetizers.”

“Stokes you need to accept the settlement agreement, or you’re looking at years of jail time.”

“No.”

Next up was Wanda Quiñones, charged with the dastardly deed of killing her just wedded wife Jasmine Quiñones. Their three bedroom Queens apartment was mysteriously set ablaze while Jasmine perished inside, Wanda the only survivor. 

“You stand to earn a lot of money for your wife’s death, security footage shows you buying matches and lighter fluid at a bodega just across from your apartment before the fire…It doesn’t look good Ms. Quiñones”

“It’s Mrs… and to think you’d even consider that I did such a horrible thing for insurance money,” Quiñones observed her newly polished nails and then looked up at Foggy from across his desk. “I come from old money Mr. Nelson and Jasmine did not. All she had to give was her love. And the lighter fluid and matches? Well, you’ll find that we had a patio charcoal grill,” She frowned dramatically. “We were supposed to have steaks that very night.”

Foggy was amazed at just how horrible her lying was, she showed no genuine grief sadness over her wife’s death- but at the same time she was right about the money. Mrs. Quiñones was very, very rich and came from a coal mining family. What could possibly be the motive?

“Well you have a deposition Friday so I recommend looking over the practice questions I gave you. They’ll be asking a lot of personal questions about your marriage.”

“Hm.”

After his meetings he ordered dinner for delivery, but they ruined his order by forgetting to forgo mushrooms (which he was allergic to) and he only noticed until after it was too late. So he decided to have something from the cafe across the street, when someone bumped into him and spilled a cup of coffee on his newly pressed suit. This all lead to the decision for him to take an early day, but as he walked back to his apartment there was construction that prevented him from taking his usual route.

With his stained suit, growling stomach, and aching legs the day slowly came to an end as the sun set over Hell’s Kitchen. 

And as a _perfect_ ending to his day, as he was just arriving to his building a young looking man stopped him and held up a gun to his chest.

Foggy took a deep sigh, and couldn't bring himself to care. “Look kid, I’ve had a really bad day. I don’t have much on me, but you can take my wallet.” He went to reach for it before the kid tightened his grip on the gun.

“Don’t move! Look, just follow me and everything will go good. I don’t want your money,” The kid’s voice shook and he seemed especially jumpy.

“You’re not very good at this robbing stuff.”

“I’m not robbing y-” he suddenly let out a brief cry and jerked forwards. He wobbled with a pale face, and Foggy took a few steps back before the kid collapsed. Behind him was Jessica Jones with a raised hand.

“You didn’t need to knock him out you know, he was terrified, probably could’ve talked him down.” Foggy raised and eyebrow and took the final steps to his building

“He wouldn’t shut up, and he would’ve shot you. Maybe learn how to not anger the guy with the gun?”

“Look- thanks and all, but I want to go to sleep. You won’t convince me to forgive Matt and become besties again.” He opened the apartment building door and went up the steps. 

Jessica just followed behind him, “What if I needed legal advice?”

“That was Danny’s excuse. I’m not falling for it again.” One up the steps he fumbled around for his keys and went to open the door, but found it was already unlocked.

Jessica went in front of him and just went inside his apartment, “You know this isn’t the best neighborhood you should lock your doors.”

Foggy groaned and mumbled to himself, “Oh yes Jessica, welcome inside, you’re free to come any time- it’s not like I want you to leave me alone or anything.” He closed the door behind her and walked to his kitchen at the other side of the room. “I’m hungry. I’m not making you any foo- what the _fuck_.”

Luke Cage was sitting by his kitchen counter, “Sorry man, I went to see if you were home and the door was unlocked so I just came inside.”

“Are you all this irritating?” Foggy gave a stern look to Luke before he went to the fridge and began scanning his eyes over the various leftovers. 

Jessica called from the living room, “Luke is the least irritating!”

Foggy gripped the sides of the fridge, put his head down and took a long deep breath and counted to ten. He started reading up on anger management after the whole Daredevil fiasco, and before him and Matt parted ways. Some part of him had thought, maybe if Matt learns how to manage his anger he won’t feel the need to punch people into the ground in a tight devil outfit. These anger techniques have definitely become increasingly useful as time went on.

He looked back up at the fridge, took out a worn container of what he thought was either Indian or Chinese and put it in the microwave. He turned back to Luke at the counter island and ran a hand through his hair, “If you’re the least irritating I can imagine I have my work cut out for me.”

Luke gave a sympathetic look and then stood up from the counter, walked around the island and put his hand out. “I’m Luke Cage, I’d like to properly introduce myself.”

Foggy found himself winding down, he appreciated a gesture that was familiar. He shook Luke’s hand, “Franklin Nelson.”

“I thought your name was Foggy…though Franklin makes more sense then a weather condition,” Luke smirked.

“Well…my friends call me Foggy.”

“Well Franklin, I hope we become friends once this is over,” Luke walked back to his spot at the counter right as the microwave beeped. 

Foggy took the container out and then opened a drawer to search for some sort of cutlery that didn’t need to be washed. He settled for a plastic fork that he was at least 85 percent certain hadn’t been used. As he looked back up from his search Jessica walked to the counter as well and sat usually far away from Luke- though ‘unusually far away’ in his tiny apartment really meant two feet.

She put her feet up and leaned back in her stool, “Alright Mr. Esquire we’ve got to solve a fuckin’ problem.”

“Can’t this wait until I’m done eating?” Foggy began to dig into his food (which was actually Pad Thai, not Indian or Chinese food.) He didn’t bother to move to the other side of the counter and sit down, he didn’t want to know what would happen if he sat between the two people with super strength during this conversation.

Luke looked like he wanted to concede but spoke anyway, “It’s going to be easier if we just get this done now. You should show up to meet with him tomorrow at the Starbucks across your job at 12 p.m…Which I assume could count as a lunch break.”

Jessica looked at him, “You arranged this? I was just planning on dragging him to Matt’s apartment tonight. Kicking and screaming if I had to.” Foggy was half-way through a bite and made a small affronted sound. “What? It’s the most effective.”

“It’s not,” Luke frowned at her. “So do you agree to the meeting? Whether or not you become friends isn’t my problem, and I’m not a counselor…but you need to handle things with him or people are going to get hurt.”

Foggy swallowed his food and then raised his voice, maybe just a bite louder then necessary. “So it’s not your problem, but it’s _mine_? Matt **_abandoned_** our firm and didn’t even try to reconcile. Not once. I’m supposed to fix things, at a cost to my own mental health, because of what?”

“For the greater good, and I know you care about the greater good.”

“You might have me confused with Matt on that one. I care about my friends, and at the moment Matt isn’t one of them,” Foggy had suddenly lost his appetite. He took the rest of the uneaten container, stabbed his plastic fork into the food and threw it into the trash behind him.

There was a brief awkward silence before Foggy regained his composure. “I care about Matt. I don’t want him to be hurt, and I don’t want him to die- and for Godssake I would love to be best friends with him again,” A pang of tightness rushed through his chest and suddenly heat went up his face. He shut himself up before he spoke more. “But if he doesn’t make the effort, I can’t go through this again.”

“I think he’ll make the effort,” Jessica was oddly soft in her tone. “If there’s one thing I know about Horns is that he’s stubborn, and if you both were good friends before he would do anything to fix that…As long as he knows _you_ want to fix it.”

Luke nodded at Jessica, “I’ll be with him tomorrow, he’s agreed to meet with me. You show up at 12 and I’ll have explained the situation before then. I’ll keep him there. All you need to do is show up.”

“You make it sound easy,” Foggy said. “How do you expect him to stay after you leave?”

“I said I’m not a counselor, counselor. But if my instincts are right, he’ll stay.”


	3. The Force Awakens

Matt had a bad night and that led very heartily into a bad morning. His bones and muscles all felt like they were aching, he slowly kicked himself out of bed and took a slow breath. Breathing any deeper would hurt his wounds- and he’d taken the advice Claire had given him about not going out and fighting for at least a week.

_Preferably a month or longer_ , she’d said. _But I know you wouldn’t listen to that advice._

Luke had called him yesterday at work to tell him he wanted to help Matt get some prospective clients form his neighborhood. Apparently a lot of young kids were being arrested, and doing stupid things- he thought Matt might be able to help.

They were going to meet at a Starbucks, which Matt thought was odd, considering Luke doesn’t drink coffee, but he wasn’t going to argue. His funds were running low, the money he made off of the storefront legal clinic definitely wasn’t enough anymore. For a moment he was tempted to take out money from the savings account Elektra had left for him, but he had held himself back.

He slowly got ready and pulled on his usual suit. Matt hoped he looked right, because sometimes he’d put on his tie wrong and not notice until some client pointed it out to him. Getting ready in the morning wasn’t like fighting as a Daredevil, and after a long night he sometimes rushed and didn’t pay enough attention to what he was doing. 

After his usual clothes he made himself a cup of coffee. He didn’t have any clients today, only the meeting with Luke, so he was happy to have some extra time to himself. He even got to sleep in a good few hours later then he usually did.

The time hearing the soft drips into the cup, the wonderful coffee aroma, and slight taste in the air calmed him down. He found himself tuning out the harsh sounds of the city and finding just a moments peace in the routine.

He poured himself a cup, went to his fridge and took a sniff to identify his favorite organic creamer, poured a slight bit into the hot bean water and sat down and just immersed himself into the coffee.

He hadn’t been doing well recently, not at all, and he understood the rest of his team’s worries. There’s the concern he’s not taking care of himself, he’s being more risky and ignoring his common sense. The truth was that was all very much a reality.

He didn’t care much anymore. He didn’t talk to Karen, Claire is busy with Luke most of the time, he doesn’t hang out with the rest of the team- and he doesn’t think he’d ever fit in with them anyway. His dark attitude always makes the room gloomier, he’s not fun to be around.

Then there was Foggy. Foggy meant a great deal to him, and he still means a great deal…but Foggy wants nothing to do with Matt. He’s doing great apparently. Sometimes Matt would occasionally perch on top of Foggy’s office building. People appreciate him there, he was finding himself closer to the top and he did better without Matt. At least that’s what he could gather, and he knew he was doing well.

There was always that thought weighing him down. _Nobody’s lives are better with me in it_. The only good he brought was getting rid of bad people, and saving the people who were the victims of them. Any close relationship only ended badly.

Elektra.

Elektra ended because of him, Elektra’s life. The woman he loved _died_ because of him.

He wasn’t going to let the man he loves die either.

The thought threw him off of his thought process. _Love_. A powerful word, of course him and Foggy used to say it often enough. _“Love you man.” “You’re great dude, I love you.”_ But Matt was smart enough to realize the way he thought it felt different this time.

He shook his head, he wouldn’t let himself dwell on it. Couldn’t let himself dwell on it. Or he might just fall deeper into whatever kind of hole he’d already drilled himself into.

He felt his braille watch for the time, 11:20. He stood up, rinsed off his mug and found his cane. The walk to the Starbucks should only be a few blocks long, he might even be early.

The thought of new clients didn’t excite him as much as it should. He also felt oddly nervous to see Luke, the only time they’ve spoken as himself in person. As _Matt_ and not Daredevil was when they had that intervention for him. He was calling the incident the intervention now. When his identity was released for all to see.

Who he was as an attorney was different then who he was in the mask.

The walk to Starbucks wasn’t awfully long, there were plenty of people on the sidewalk, and few who bumped into him with the words on their tongue “What are you bli-” before stopping themselves and apologizing. This routine wasn’t something he liked, too many people around made him anxious- maybe that’s why he prefers to be out during the night.

As he got closer to his destination came the creeping realization just how close they would be to Foggy’s job. It felt like a deep cavern opened up in his throat and slowly creeped down to the pits of his stomach and across his body the more he got near. The caverns felt empty.

Finally at his destination he was startled by how crowded it was during lunch time. People rushed past and he tried to sense Luke in the room. It didn’t take long for him to notice his distinct smell, and presence. Luke was heavier then most people, and his entire body was denser, his heartbeat sounded like a steady bass drum. Everything bounced off him differently, as if his invulnerability extended to the waves of sound.

Matt sat down in front of him, and as far as he could tell Luke was slightly startled.

“I didn’t recognize you for a second,” Luke admitted. “You look different like this.”

“I am different.” Luke’s heart rate was slightly elevated, Matt didn’t know whether it was still because he was startled, or if it was for another reason. Due to recent events he suspected the latter. “Did you really come here to help me with prospective clients?”

“You catch on fast Matt, and I’m usually a very honest person,” Luke’s leaned closer to Matt. “I do have a few kids who might need your help in the future, but not right now. Instead, I’ve set up just a slight ambush situation.”

“An ambush situation?” Matt raised a single eyebrow.

“Surprisingly this wasn’t Jessica’s idea, and I’m sorry if it makes you uncomfortable…But your friend Foggy is going to be coming in just about five minutes.”

Matt’s heart stopped. If this were any other story people might assume this was an exaggeration, but in truth it was not. His heart literally skipped two beats for the moment Luke’s mouth had uttered the words ‘Foggy is going to be coming.’ The caverns that he felt in his body before, which had seemed empty previously, now were running with ice cold water. 

Matt tried to get a word out but couldn’t seem to speak.

Luke was surprised, “I’ve…never seen you speechless before. Or this nervous. Not even when you were shot.”

Matt composed himself and began to stand up, “I’m leaving Luke. I need to leave.” Matt’s heartbeat sounded immensely loud in his own ears.

He was about to go before he noticed it, that _smell_. Strawberry shampoo, coconut oil and mint. The light, but steady heartbeat- slower then he remembered. The hair didn’t brush across the ears quite the same…it was shorter. A sharp sadness went through him. He liked it longer.

“I know I’m a little early,” that voice. “But I figured I’d get ahead of the curve considering I thought he might leave,”

Foggy looked Matt up and down, “And I guess I’m right, unless he needed to go to the bathroom or something.”

Matt slowly sat down at about the same time Luke stood up. He looked between the both of them and for a brief moment hesitated, in his mind he thought maybe he _shouldn’t_ leave them alone together…But had made his decision, “It’s your time. Good luck with _this_ ,” Luke said as he gestured to Matt, “I’m out.”

By the time Foggy sat down across from Matt, Luke was long gone, “So, who talks first? You talk first? I talk first?” Foggy paused and an awkward silence ensued. Matt looked unhealthily pale. “Oh come on! You haven’t seen The Force Awakens?”

“I haven’t _seen_ anything,” Matt made a small smile. Even in the oddest of situations, his subtle puns will never fail him. Foggy set himself up for it (little did Matt know, Foggy had done so purposefully.)

Foggy smiled too, and something felt lifted, “So you’re healthy enough to crack jokes.” He then suddenly looked deadly serious, “You have to at least _hear_ the Force Awakens it’s _Star Wars_.”

Matt smiled and then frowned again, “Foggy I…”

“I’m still mad at you,” Foggy looked down at the table and then back up.Searching for something in Matt, “I don’t know how long it will take until I get rid of that anger, and I think it might be there for…I don’t know, it might be forever.”

“Fog-”

“You don’t get to interrupt me Matt!” Foggy took a ten second breath. “You don’t get to interrupt me after you…after you _insisted_ on taking on a case you knew I didn’t want. After I worked my _ass_ off for that case and you went off with your _girlfriend_ and just… Matt what you did not only showed me you didn’t respect the firm, but you didn’t respect our friendship. I didn’t know what was going on and I felt all alone and even when I was in the hospital you didn’t come see me.”

He put his head down, “That day when you said you wouldn’t apologize for who you are- I’m not asking you to.” He looked back up, “I’m not asking you to stop doing what you do. I’m asking for you to respect me, be _truthful_. Let me know what’s going on!” Matt remained silent before Foggy spoke again, “You can talk now.”

“I made a mistake, Foggy,” Matt adjusted his red-tinted glasses. “I made a lot of mistakes, and you might be better off without me around…because based on prior experience, I’m going to keep making them.”

Foggy put a hand on his face and massaged his temples with his thumb and forefinger. “So you don’t want to be associated with one another?”

“That’s…” Matt shook his head. It's not as if he didn’t want Foggy around, he wanted Foggy around, he wanted to be friends again, but he didn’t want to be selfish. As much as people tried to convince him, he knew he lived a dangerous life. Everyday as Daredevil put his friends in more danger…So maybe it’s best not to have friends at all, “Not what I’m saying.”

“Well that’s what it damn well sounds like!” Foggy’s voice was just that bit too loud, and it cut through the chatter around them. A few people gave them curious looks, but then turned their heads away for fear of being rude, or they just didn’t care. Foggy noticed and quieted down, “You’re not a burden when you’re honest with me.”

“I thought you hated knowing what I do,” Matt didn’t know what to say. He didn’t want to blame Foggy for legitimate concerns- but how could he be honest if he was judged for every word that came out of his mouth.

“I admit I’ll complain,” Foggy conceded. “And I don’t think I’ll ever stop worrying…but I understand what you do now.”

“Really?”

“Matt…I couldn’t imagine hearing the suffering that goes on everyday, literally hearing screams at night, knowing I could do something about it- and just sitting back and doing nothing,” He paused. “There’s a difference between _knowing_ there’s horrible things in the world, and actually being aware of it.”

Matt’s fears bubbled low under the surface of his psyche. He still had fear of abandonment, as much as he hated to admit it, his father decided to leave him…Decided to win the fight despite the well-known consequences. Stick left him because he wasn’t strong enough. Elektra left him…came back, and then died fighting for him. Foggy left because he knew he couldn’t trust Matt.

“I’ll be honest with you,” Matt made the decision then. If this is what is needed to fix their relationship, then he’ll do it.

“You have an advantage Matt,” Foggy was thoughtful. “You can tell when people are lying, you can hear my heartbeat and you know when I’m being honest…I don’t have that luxury, and you’re very good at lying,” Foggy suddenly felt self-conscious. His attraction for Matt was very obvious when they first met, but he pushed those thoughts away the moment he found himself falling. He was good at ignoring things, but he couldn’t control his heart and the way his body reacted around Matt.

“It’s not as simple as that,” Matt explained. “It’s not like I can always figure out someone’s inner thought process because of their heartbeats- I can’t read minds. It’s usually an educated guess…You don’t realize despite my advantages, I’m still blind. I can’t always interpret your body language, and I can’t see the looks on others faces. Even as I’m working with the Defenders, when they call out someone based on the color of their hair, I don’t know who they’re talking about.”

“You’re really blind,” Foggy deadpanned.

“Yes!” This time it was Matt turning heads. “I don’t know how many times I have to say it, I’m blind, I will always be blind and just because I…” He quieted, “Just because my other senses are heightened doesn’t replace the advantages I would have as a sighted-person.”

“I’m sorry,” Foggy cringed. “That was really shitty of me, you see I didn’t understand that- to me it felt like you lied about being blind. I know,” Foggy said quickly and held a hand up when it seemed like Matt was going to speak. “I know _now_ , but at least you understand where I was coming from.”

Matt suddenly sat up straighter in his chair, “How much work do you have today?”

“All my meetings were cancelled, and I don’t have a deposition or any hearings to file until tomorrow,” Foggy smiled. There was still something different between them, something that was there, hiding under the surface…But one conversation made wonders of difference, because that’s who they’ll always be. “Why? Do you have plans.”

“Do you have The Force Awakens on DVD?”

“As if you would ask me, the most intense Start Wars fan on Earth, that question.”

 


	4. Toddler Stability

The following weeks after Matt and Foggy ended up having a Star Wars marathon were calm enough, and Matt didn’t take any unnecessary risks anymore. If Foggy asked about Matt’s nightly activities, he was honest with him. They even managed to arrange a gathering with Karen.

Karen remembered it fondly, her and Foggy remained in contact all throughout the year of solitude (a.k.a the time without Matt.) She insisted on it, despite how much he tried to discourage her. They rarely meet in person, but tend to always get on the phone together, usually both at their desks at work.

_“We’ve been doing the things we did in college again,”_ He sounded happy. _“On my lunch breaks we occasionally work together on cases…He’s working with a kid Luke brought in, giving him advice and helping him out of a drug charge. Did you know he’s running a legal clinic for free?”_

“I heard about it,” She was sitting at her desk and looking at various gory photos. As the head investigative journalist she was brought a lot of different crime cases that looked suspicious- or needed another passover. It helps that she always got plenty of intel from Frank, “How are your cases?”

_“Boring. I have two clients who hate me. One’s pissed because I can’t get her off a murder charge, the other because I can’t get him off an embezzlement charge,”_ Foggy took a long deep sigh over the line. _“They’re both very guilty.”_

Karen chuckled, “Isn’t it innocent until proven guilty?” 

_“I think there’s definitely enough proof in these particular situations,”_ Foggy took yet another long sigh. Karen couldn’t help but smile a bit, _“Sometimes I miss helping the little guy…Instead of snooty rich people.”_

Karen paused for a moment, she quit looking at the gunshot wounds and asked Foggy a simple question, “Have you two talked about the possibility of bringing Nelson and Murdock back together?”

_“We haven’t,”_ He answered. _The way we are right now is good. I don’t have to rely on him for anything…but if we started to work together again, suddenly I have to trust he’s going to show up to work everyday.”_

“But you don’t like your job, and you enjoy the work that Matt is doing,” Karen elaborated. “You’re getting along, having fun together again and even talking about cases together. You understand that this combination leads to the inevitability of bringing the firm back together.”

Foggy hummed thoughtfully, _“There’s a point there. If we were to bring it back together, would you work there again?”_

Karen couldn’t help but let out a very hard, and cynical laugh. “Foggy, don’t get me wrong…I liked working there for a while, but what I’m doing now is my passion. I could help you out sometimes with research, but not on an official payroll.”

_“I’d insist on making you partner, Karen.”_

“That’s a heavy bargain, but I’m not an attorney Foggy.” She smiled, “Thanks for thinking about me though.”

_“Well the entire point of this call was to go to drinks together at Josie’s. Matt’s still too much of a punk to call you himself, and is nervous you’re still angry at him…especially after that fling you had.”_

Karen shrugged to herself, “I’m over it. The fact he’s willing to meet with me anyway means progress, and it sounds nice to get the gang together.” 

This led to the eventual gathering later that day. Unlike Foggy or Matt, she wasn’t nervous to meet in person. She’s already learned herself that unnecessary anxiety isn’t good for her, and after all the things she’s been through with Frank…well, that’s another story. The point is, she’s been through a lot already and whatever Matt does is the least of her problems. 

Yes, they both had an attraction to each other- and Matt is handsome…but that relationship wasn’t good for her, and he was distracted by other people. Her thoughts for him were fond, but no longer romantic. The small child’s crush she had developed and then puffed away, it’s a natural cycle of evolution.

As she approached Josie’s and saw Foggy and Matt sitting together, laughing, a wave of warmth and happiness came over her. Foggy’s hair was growing longer again, he looked brighter, fuller and healthier. The two made great friends.

She walked over to Matt, “Nice to see you both getting along, I think that just made my day.”

Matt stood up, “Karen…it’s been a while, but I’m glad to see you.”

She sat down in the stool he just stood up from. “I’m not angry at you anymore, Matt, so lets get over the initial awkwardness and just have some fun, okay?”

He still stood up, wringing his cane in his hand, but nodded, “That sounds like a good idea.”

The rest of the night went like old times, joking and drinking…but Karen noticed a difference between things- not a bad difference, there was no awkwardness anymore and it felt good. She just noticed something she was surprised she hadn’t before.

The way Matt acted around Foggy, it resembled the same kind of way he acted around her when they first started flirting together…but this was more aged, deeper, something that looked like it had been held in for a long time.

While Foggy told stories, she just had to look at Matt’s face. The small smile that over took him, and the more he drank the more flushed with red he became. He tilted in head in intense concentration, and focused on every word Foggy said. He looked satisfied, comfortable, but longing. 

That lead to the eventual thought that made everything click together…He looked _in love_. 

It came towards the very end of the night, but that realization made things that much more complicated. If Matt was in love with Foggy, and now that she could see it there’s no way she could unsee it, what does that mean for their relationship? How does Foggy feel about Matt?

Sure, Foggy was very fond of Matt. He also looked at Matt like the world, but there was something being held back in Foggy. 

With just her luck she’d get to have a conversation with one of them as the night ended. It was eventually Foggy who left first, and she was sitting with Matt at the bar when he conceded to the end of the night as well. 

“This was…great,” He lightly slurred his words. “I had fun.”

He was definitely a little drink, she wasn’t. She only had two drinks over the course of the night, “I’ll walk home with you,” She smiled. “And I don’t think it will end up like the last time we walked together after a night at the bar.”

He grimaced, “Sorry about everything.”

“No need, it’s all water under the bridge now.” They both stood up and made their way out of the Josie’s. She lightly took his elbow and they began their walk, “I wanted to talk to you about something though.”

“Hm?”

“How long have you been in love with Foggy?” She got to the hard question immediately. It was a good thing they were walking and she had her hand around the crook of his elbow. Also an advantage that he was drunk, because in any other situation he may have parkoured straight out of the situation.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” He seemed incredibly sober now.

“Don’t bullshit me, Matt. I know what it looks like when someone is in love. How long?”

“I…” He looked like he wanted to argue, but after a brief thoughtful moment he answered. “I only realized about a month after we broke off Nelson and Murdock, but I think I’ve had it for years. Since college, maybe.”

Karen raised an eyebrow, “That’s a long time to realize you’ve been in love with someone.” 

“I’m not good with emotions, Karen. And I had a lot of distractions.”

She agreed with that. Matt had the emotional stability of a toddler, and the emotional awareness of a rock. This was neither a good combination, nor a sensible one, “Are you going to tell him?”

Matt scoffed, “Do you want me to ruin the steady relationship we have right now? He doesn’t even know I’m bisexual…There’s no warning, and he doesn’t have feelings for me.”

“I think he does,” The wheels turned in Karen’s mind. “Maybe the fact you’ve shown no interest for who knows how long means he’s protecting himself. He practically worships the ground you walk on, Matt. He’s still hurt right now, nervous, and doesn’t trust you completely, I’ll give you that- but I think you have a chance, more than just a chance.”

“He was,” Matt looked sheepish. “He _was_ attracted to me when we first met.”

“What?!” Karen stopped in the middle of the sidewalk. “How do you know that? Why didn’t you pursue it?”

“I didn’t know him! I figured it was just an infatuation,” Matt rubbed the back of his neck. “And the attraction signals, the elevated heartbeat, warmth and such practically went away by the time I started to feel any sort of attraction.”

“You’re a fucking dumbass, Matt,” Karen ignored his affronted look. “He didn’t stop being attracted to you, you idiot- he got _used_ to you. He felt comfortable around you.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah, oh. You need to fix this,” Karen began to walk with him again. “Tell him how you feel, but don’t hurt him I swear to god, I don’t care if you’re Daredevil I’ll beat the shit out of you.”

Matt knew that was a promise.


	5. Anchovies

It was a week after Matt’s conversation with Karen. He still hadn’t told Foggy. His feelings had just gotten worse, and more intense. Every time he thought of him he blushed like a school child, it was horrible.

“Hey, Matt. Focus, we’re talking,” Luke broke him out of his stupor. They were in his his office space. Luke had noticed how much Matt’s attitude was changing, he was less intense, more relaxed and he was amazed at the wonders of friendship…But Matt needed to stop zoning out. “There’s a gang up in Harlem that’s been making problems for a lot of locals. I thought that maybe that could be our next goal tonight.”

They were all in citizen’s clothes, it was day out and they’ve been confined to working at night. Mostly because of Matt’s insistence. 

“Sounds fine with me,” Danny shrugged. He was positioned in a cross legged position in the middle of the room.

Jessica made a mild sound of agreement, she had commandeered Matt’s desk and made herself at home, “I don’t see any reason why not.”

Due to his desk being out of service, Matt was leaning up against the wall, just in a slightly broody dramatic fashion, “Hell’s Kitchen has been quiet the past few nights, but I can’t promise I’d come if there’s something going on in my city.”

“My city,” Jessica mocked the tone. “Horns over here thinks he owns the place.”

“I don’t think I own it, I just ca-”

“Knock, knock!” Foggy was at the office door with a pizza box in his hand, “Oh, sorry for interrupting your super secret vigilante meeting, I just brought over some lunch.” He gazed at the pizza box, “I only brought one pizza.”

Matt smiled broadly. His broody look was wiped clean off his face, the rest of the Defenders seemed shocked for a moment. Matt didn’t notice the change in tone, he was too focused on Foggy, “That’s fine, Fog. I’ll only have one slice anyway.”

“I got it from the place you like, with the organic stuff. It costs me a fortune.”

“I can eat regular pizza, Foggy,” Matt was still smiling as Foggy set it down at the corner of his desk where Jessica’s feet weren’t propped up, “I just hated that time you got anchovies on the pizza.”

“Look man, that was delicious. You can fight me about it all you want.”

“It stunk up the office for a month,” Matt wrinkled his nose just thinking about it.

“A month! More like a day, I didn’t know about your super-senses then, Matt. And the little fishes make me happy inside, anchovies are Mother Earth’s gift to us.”

Matt tilted his head back and laughed, “More like Mother Earth’s leftovers.”

It was only then that Foggy was the one to notice the looks on the rest of the Defenders faces. Each of them looked stupefied, Danny’s mouth was just slightly agape, Luke’s eyebrows were up to his nonexistent hairline…And Jessica eyes were wide open, like she had been sobered right up.

“What?” Foggy asked. Oblivious.

“We just,” Danny began. “I don’t think I have _ever_ seen him laugh before.”

“Well he sniggers a lot,” Luke granted. “But not laugh.”

“I don’t know if I like it,” Jessica had a very suspicious face on.

“Can you all stop talking about me as if I’m not in the room?” This was a justifiable comment in Matt’s opinion, “I am a human being.”

“Matt laughs a lot I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Foggy explained. “I mean the guy laughs at literally the smallest jokes possible. I could make the stupidest pun and it would crack him up.”

“Maybe for _your_ jokes, but he doesn’t laugh around us,” Jessica still had her suspicious look on, but put her feet down and opened up the pizza box and took a slice. 

Foggy looked very thoughtful, and Matt thought his careful cover was blown. Foggy looked over at Matt, whose face was fairly blank, but if Foggy had super-senses he would definitely hear his fast fluttering heartbeat.

Danny broke the silence, “Well I’m gonna go, I have a meeting in thirty minutes, and if I’m not there Ward will kill me.”

“Me and Claire have plans this afternoon, so I think that’s it for me as well.”

“I’m going too,” Jessica said as she took another slice of pizza. “I don’t have anything to do, but I just want to leave.”

The three walked out together and Matt and Foggy were left alone.

“Why do you only laugh at my jokes, Matt?” Foggy asked.

“Because…” Matt was breathing just a little heavily, “Of you.”

“Of me?”

“I laugh at your jokes because you’re the one who’s making them, you’re the funniest person I know…and the kindest, and sweetest, and most beau-” Matt wanted to go on, but he stopped himself.

“And most what?” Foggy’s heart was getting faster. Matt didn’t know if this was a good or bad sign, “The most what, Matt?”

“You’re the most beautiful person I’ve ever met,” The words didn’t come out fast. They were slow, and deliberate. Matt needed Foggy to know.

“You can’t even see me, Matt,” Foggy walked closer. He was getting warmer, heart faster.

“That doesn’t stop you from being beautiful, you always smell like strawberries, coconut and mint. Your hair brushes over your ears, and sounds smooth. You radiate warmth and comfort, I don’t need to see you to know you’re beautiful,” Matt took a step forward, as well.

Their faces were very close to each other now, a bottle of warmth was between the two of them, and only two inches were between their lips. 

“Karen wanted me to tell you a week ago,” Matt admitted. “But I didn’t know if I could do it.”

“Tell me what, Matt,” Matt could feel Foggy’s breath. It wasn’t a question anymore, Foggy knew the answer, but he needed to hear it to be certain. Foggy needed absolute clarity, honesty, or this would never work.

“I love you, Foggy.”

It was then that Foggy gripped Matt’s shoulders and brought his face closer, the space between their lips closed and they kissed. It wasn’t long, but enough for the deep warmth to embrace both of them, and bring their bodies completely against one another.

[ ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/153646017@N03/36354185581/in/dateposted-public/)

Just as soon as it happened they separated, Foggy looked at Matt, “I’ve been waiting for this since college.” He looked at Matt’s lips again, beautifully red and admired the stubble that adorned his chin. “I love you too, Matt.”

This time it was Matt who brought him back in, the kiss wasn’t chaste and fast anymore, it was deep and intimate. Open mouths, rough and longing. Matt’s tongue slipped inside Foggy’s mouth, gentle but demanding, and it’s nothing like either of them had ever experienced. It didn’t matter anymore that they were already kissing, Matt wanted Foggy closer.

Matt’s arms wrapped around Foggy’s back and dipped low to his hips, he pushed Foggy up against him and a gentle moan escaped Foggy’s lips. Their bodies rocked together, and both of them felt each other’s hardness.

But then, as a subtle agreement, they broke the kiss. Still together, their bodies closer and foreheads against one another they simply stayed silent in each others spaces for a moment. 

“I wish I’d done this a lot sooner,” Matt smiled. His lips were ever redder now, Foggy could barely hold himself back.

“If we weren’t both idiots that would have been a possibility.”

“I’d love to keep going,” Matt kissed Foggy’s forehead. “But,” kissed Foggy’s cheek. “I think we should wait, or find a better place,” then kissed his neck.

“If you keep doing that,” he said, holding back a moan. “I don’t think I’ll be able to wait.” Matt mumbled what Foggy thought sounded like ‘sorry’ against his neck. Foggy chuckled.

Matt stopped and waited, “Will you let me do something.”

“Something?”

“I know it’s soon but…” Matt rested his head against Foggy’s collared shirt

“We’ve been longing from afar for _years_ , Matt. What’s soon in our book?”

“Is that a yes?”

“A resounding one.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a warning, the next chapter includes explicit content. You can skip if you want, it won't be essential to the plot. A brief summary of the activities will be included at the end of next chapter.


	6. Hazel Eyes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is fully explicit content. Can be skipped. List of activities included in end notes.

“Okay,” Matt smiled and kissed Foggy’s neck again. He separated and closed the door to the office. Then Matt lightly pushed Foggy and sat him down on his desk. He took off his glasses and set them aside..

Foggy’s heart rate was higher than Matt had ever heard it, and his perspiration was up. Foggy wasn’t used to seeing Matt’s eyes, and was immersed in their hazel color. Matt went to Foggy, kissed him again and then lowered himself down to Foggy’s belly. He kissed their, and Foggy spoke, “You don’t have to do this.”

Matt paused, “I want to. Do you want to?”

“ _Yes._ ”

Foggy looked down at Matt, his eyes up at him. Then Matt gripped his belt, and very carefully took it out of the loop, and slipped it out of Foggy’s pants. Matt threw it across the room impatiently, and then unzipped Foggy’s fly and pushed down the pants to his shoes. He did the same for the underwear, and Foggy gasped when the cool air met his groin.

His cock was hard and stuck out, just inches away from Matt’s face. Matt licked his lips, and even that made Foggy moan. Matt tentatively held a hand out, and then took Foggy’s arousal in his hand, “Matt…” Foggy moaned and hummed he closed his eyes for a moment, but then decided not to and looked at Matt.

Matt, with Foggy’s erection still in hand, licked the very tip and then in one slow movement put his mouth over the shaft and moved his tongue around Foggy’s length. He hummed slowly, and every hum made Foggy gasp louder. He pumped the shaft and he tasted the tip like it was the best thing he’d ever experienced. Matt was moaning now, and his own hardness was very apparent in his tight suit pants. 

With his other hand he took Foggy’s balls and massaged them slowly while he sucked Foggy’s erection. He stopped gripping Foggy’s shaft, and put his hand up to take one of Foggy’s hands.

Foggy looked down at Matt who had just taken his hand, and put it on the back of Matt’s head, he understood and then took his other hand and gripped Matt’s hair. He pulled lightly and Matt stopped sucking and let out a deep groan.

“Who knew you were kinky,” Foggy chuckled.

Matt continued to suck, going deeper and farther each time. He stopped gripping Foggy’s sack and used his hands to unzip his own pants and release himself. With his own cock in hand he pumped in time with his mouth.

Foggy felt heat in his groin grow stronger, and he couldn’t hold himself back as he began to moan louder, the tightness in his erection and arousal he felt was intense. Looking at Matt in this way, in this situation, was better then any fantasy he could come up with.

“I’m going to,” He wanted to warn Matt. “I’m going t- ah!” He reached orgasm with Matt still around him. Matt swallowed, and right after came up for breath and moaned out right as he orgasmed.

“That was-” Matt was breathing heaving.

“That was amazing,” Foggy laughed. “Now we’re going to have to clean your mess up.

“I have some towels stored in the janitor’s closet outside.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (oral sex, light hair pulling, masturbation, orgasm from both parties, cum swallowing)


	7. Steak?

The days following their first time together were a whirlwind. Neither Foggy nor Matt were the kind of people to take things slow. While, it might be smart to keeps things slow, in their case it was as if the pent up emotions and years of avoidance had come to a climax. Foggy spent most days at Matt’s apartment, and left in the early morning.

They were only a few blocks away from each other so it wasn’t the most inconvenient thing, but Foggy’s thoughts drifted to living together. His logic kept telling him this was too fast, normal relationships don’t progress this quickly, but this wasn’t a _normal_ relationship to him.

This was the best relationship he’s had in years, Marci was constantly full of fighting and arguing, havoc and sex. With Matt it was different, the mornings were calm, he left most nights- which left Foggy feeling empty, and worried, but he always knew where Matt was.

When Matt would leave in the night to fight with the Defenders, or on his own, Foggy would stay up, whether that be reading a book, or watching something on his laptop, he would wait up for him until he came back.

Matt insisted he needed sleep, but even if he tried to fall asleep he wouldn’t be able. The thought of Matt getting punched, stabbed, or shot was always written in his mind. He still remembers the times he found Matt beaten and bloodied, and dreaded the day Matt wouldn’t come back in the morning.

This was one of the rare times Matt didn’t go out and fight, Jessica had taken over for the night and Matt had time to relax and decompress. It was the early morning and light was creeping through Matt’s curtain-less windows. Foggy was awake, Matt pressed to his side, and he slowly eased his way out of bed in an effort to not wake him up.

Luck was on his side today when he was able to get out of bed, and walk to Matt’s kitchen and make breakfast. Matt’s apartment was usually very scarce in terms of food, but Foggy did some shopping and was able to stock his fridge a bit more (nothing smelly, though, Foggy knew better.)

He prepared the coffee drip and then brought out a carton of eggs. Brought out the pan, the unsalted butter, and turned on the stove.

For a long time in a while, he was happy, but still unfulfilled in certain aspects. His job had gotten extremely draining, he hasn’t had lunch with Matt in a while and that’s why he’s usually insisted on eating breakfast in the mornings. Hogarth just threw five more cases for him to work on, and his two main ones have been going down the drain.

Michael Stokes and Wanda Quiñones were going to lose their cases, he could see it coming- but Stokes didn’t want to settle, and Wanda didn’t want to make a deal. They were at an impasse. 

The thought of starting Nelson and Murdock back up was tempting, but he was making so much money now. It’s hard to leave a well-paying job. Even if he were to decide on leaving- who’s to say Matt would even say yes? He’s doing well enough for himself with the legal clinic, and he might not want Foggy to come back and start making people pay. Then again, Matt doesn’t represent the people he helps as an attorney, he just makes it so they can help themselves. _Can’t we do both at once?_ Foggy thought. _Nelson and Murdock: Legal Clinic and Representation_

He got lost in his thoughts enough that he realized he nearly burnt the eggs, he startled and put them on a plate just as Matt came out of the bedroom.

“You’re up early,” Matt was in a plain white t-shirt and boxer briefs. Nothing else. Foggy smiled at the sight.

“I’m finishing up breakfast, and then I’m gonna get dressed and head over to my apartment to get my things and go to work.”

Matt sat down at the counter and scratched the back of his head, his hair was sticking up in all directions, and it only made Foggy more fond of him, “Wouldn’t it just be easier if you left some of your stuff here?”

Foggy slid the plate of eggs over to Matt with a fork, he filled a mug with fresh coffee and pushed it in Matt’s hand. “If you don’t mind,” Foggy shrugged, trying to act nonchalant. “It would be easier.”

“Of course I don’t mind,” Matt took a sip of coffee.

“Fork is to your left, I made scrambled eggs,” Foggy sat down with his own plate next to Matt and then added some salt to his dish. “So I guess I’ll bring an extra toothbrush, a few pairs of clothes and my shampoo. My shampoo doesn’t bother you right?”

“We’ve established many times that I like your strawberry shampoo,” Matt said with a bite of eggs in his mouth.

“It makes my hair silky.”

“It certainly does,” Matt smiled and a sense of domesticity washed over the situation. Silence, but not an awkward one, just comfortable in each other’s presence.

When they finished their breakfasts Foggy gathered up the plates and washed them, putting them back in their designated areas. He knew it was important to Matt that everything was in it’s place, and so unlike his own apartment, he kept things very neat and tidy.

Matt got up, “I’m going to take a shower. Will you be gone when I’m out?”

“I’m only putting on my jeans and shoes, then taking the walk back to my apartment. So yeah, most likely.”

Matt nodded and then carefully walked up and gave him a kiss, “Will you be over anytime today?”

“I’m working until about five, are you going out today?” They both knew what that question meant. It didn’t need any further explaining.

“I’ll be out on patrol by ten. That leaves us time to have dinner,” Matt shrugged and had a sly look on his face. “Maybe more than just dinner.”

“I’ll see you at six then,” Foggy gave another quick kiss. “Go ahead and take your shower.”

And so Matt did, and Foggy did as he said as well. He put on his casual clothes, took his briefcase and headed out back to his apartment. The moment he left Matt’s apartment his stress came back, he _really_ didn’t want to deal with his stuck up clients today.

Not many people were on the street considering the sun came up only a couple hours ago, it wasn’t a particularly touristy day either. He could enjoy the morning without the rush. Construction still made him take another route, but it wasn’t all that bad.

He was just taking in the morning sun when an cloth wrapped around his mouth, he struggled against the unseen assailant, and was being dragged into an alleyway, a van, he continued to try and yell for help but only breathed in more of the chemical stench before his world went dark.

* * *

When he woke up he was in somewhere he didn’t recognize. It looked like a warehouse, which was classic considering his situation. His hands were tied behind his back, he was sat in an uncomfortable wooden chair, and each his feet were tied to the front two legs.

His eyes unblurred and he was finally able to make out what was going on, definitely a warehouse. _How many warehouses are there in New York City?_ His mind wondered. _Why do kidnappers like to use them so much?_

He was in a stupor that was for certain, because his thoughts ran off to strange places, “I don’t feel…well,” Foggy mumbled to himself.

A woman’s voice answered, “That’s because of the chloroform. Contrary to popular belief, it doesn’t work as quickly as I thought- and apparently the anesthetic can have quite a few side effects.”

Foggy tried to clear his thoughts, but everything felt…blurry, “Why,” What was he going to ask? “Why am I here? Who…who are you?” His eyes finally focused on the figure, there was only one light that lightly illuminated above them. She was bathed under darkness, her face was covered with a mask, and Foggy didn’t find her voice familiar.

“I think the mask speaks for itself, I don’t want to be known.”

“Is this…” _Is this about Daredevil?_ “Is this about Daredevil?” Fuck. He shouldn’t have mentioned that, he should be silent.

“Daredevil? No, it’s not.” She sounded immensely curious. “Why? Do you know him?”

“No,” _At least I’ve got that right._ He started to feel more like himself, he even noticed another two figures toward the back of the room. A large man, and what looked to be another woman. They didn’t speak. “Who are they?”

“They’re not important,” She explained. “Where is the 500,000 dollars?”

“What?” Foggy shook his head in an effort to clear it again. God, this stuff was strong. His hands were buzzing too. “What 500,000 dollars? What are you talking about?”

“Mr. Stokes! Michael Stokes! With 500,000 dollars unaccounted for. You’re his lawyer right?” She stood up, and it was only then that Foggy noticed the revolver in her hand. “Doesn’t everyone talk to their lawyer about these things? Attorney, client privilege and all that pizazz?”

“I don’t know anything about that,” He didn’t. “Stokes never told me about where he put the money, but I think…steak?” _Something about steak, there was something about steak._

“Steak?” She paused, “You’re talking about steak. I can kill you. I _will_ kill you. Just tell me where the money is, and you’ll be fine”

“Outback steakhouse,” _Shut_ ** _up_** _, Foggy._ “He invested in Outback steakhouse. How long have I been out?”

“Much longer than expected, I almost convinced my associates here to waterboard you in the mean time, I thought it might startle you awake,” She shrugged. “But they thought that wasn’t the best course of action. You’ve been out for ten hours. My friends here tell me that it might have been too much chloroform, mixed with exhaustion. Are you tired Mr. Nelson?”

“Ten hours! How much chloroform did you give me!? You need to let me out of here,” His mind was coming back to him. He started to struggled against his restraints. “I don’t have what you want, and this means an immense amount of jail time for you. I work at a high profile law firm, you think this won’t come back to haunt you? You kill me and people will come searching. I’m not some rando on the street. You can’t jus _t get away_ with killing me.”

“But you have no idea who I am,” She explained and came closer with the gun. She walked up to him and put it right on his knee. “Maybe I _won’t_ kill you, but what if I shoot your kneecaps? That sounds exciting.”

Foggy took two long breaths and looked around. There were no obvious escape routes, the only door appeared to be where the two other people were standing, “I don’t have what you want.”

“Everybody tells their lawyer.”

“ _I don’t have, what_ ** _you want!_** ” Feeling the gun on his knee just made his heart beat faster. “Let me go now and maybe you won’t get hurt too bad,” Ten hours. She said ten hours. It was about 8 a.m. when he was out of the house this morning. So it’s 6 p.m. now…It’s six. He said he would meet with Matt at six. Matt will find him. He’ll be fine.

“Won’t get hurt?” She giggled. “Now I don’t think you’re in the position to be making threats right now.”

He needed to think. He needed to focus, this women was making threats- but why choose him? She couldn’t possibly think Stokes would tell him where the money was, but who else knew he had Stokes as a client other than his coworkers?

It was obvious. He looked at the back of the room where the other two were standing and he looked closer at the women in the back. She looked close enough…same body shape. Covered face, but same hair. Newly polished nails.

“Mrs. Quiñones.”

The woman threatening him with the gun tried not to look startled, but failed. “Who?”

“Wanda Quiñones, she’s the one who set this up. She’s the woman standing the back of the room, other than close coworkers- she knew that I was working with Mr. Stokes and our meetings were always back to back with him. It wouldn’t have been that hard to figure out,” Foggy shrugged. “I don’t know who the guy is. Probably just paid muscle. What about you?”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Oh my god,” Something in his mind clicked. Wanda identified her wife’s body, the teeth were too ruined to identify. “Are you Jasmine? Wanda’s wife? Holy shit. Wow. I didn’t think people could fake their deaths. Truly, it felt like a myth.”

“Shut up!” She raised the gun and smacked it hard against the side of his face. Foggy gasped and felt searing pain rise up all over his cheek and lower chin. Blood dribbled down the side of his chin. The woman took off her mask, and there she was, Foggy recognized her from photos. Jasmine Quiñones. “You notice how I’m taking the mask off? That’s a surefire sign you’re going to die tonight. Honey! Come over here.”

Wanda removed her own mask from the back and sauntered over, “Hm. I told you he was smart honeybunch.”

“I know, I know. You nagging little bumblebee,” Jasmine rolled her eyes. “I should have listened to you.”

Foggy was just really fucking confused at the exchange, “Why do you even want the money anyway? Why did you fake your death? This doesn’t make any sense at all.” He felt like he was in a badly written action movie.

“I’m in a _lot_ of debt.” Jasmine explained. “My wife might not have let you in on the documents, but that debt was because I invested in Stokes’ company. ‘Homes for the Homeless’ and I lost it all the moment he was arrested. Do you understand now?”

“Not really,” Foggy admitted.

“I faked my death in the hopes my debt would go away, and we could use Wanda’s old money to run off together…but the debt just transferred over to her. Suddenly she owed all the money. That’s where _you_ come in. The moment my wife found out you were representing Stokes himself our plan just came together. Remember that kid who held a gun to your chest?”

“He wasn’t very good at robbing me,” Foggy remembered Jessica knocking him unconscious.

“Well he wasn’t robbing you, he was supposed to kidnap you…but then, well you get the picture. We hired someone better,” She pointed a thumb at the ever-silent large man in the back of the room.

“Your plan came straight out of a bad action movie,” Foggy still struggled against his binds. “Both of you made things much more complicated then they had to be and you’re both idiots.”

That chloroform must still be in his system because that wasn’t the smartest thing to say to the lady with the heavy gun in her hand.

She smacked him again, but harder this time and this time Foggy didn’t just gasp but let out a yell, “Fuck!”

It was then that the thing he was waiting for finally came, the door bursted open and flew off it’s hinges. Danny stood with his glowing fist, Jessica came knocked out the hired muscle with a single punch. Luke started to walk over just as both woman tried to run away.

Then, his devil in dull red armor, Matt ran directly over to him. He immediately came over and tried to untie his bindings, “God, Foggy. I’m sorry I didn’t come here sooner. Are you okay? Do you have a concussion? Can you hear me?”

“Not too many questions at once, Matt. They gave me too much chloroform.”

“Too much chloroform?” Foggy couldn’t see Matt’s eyebrows behind the mask, but he could bet they were raised up unreasonably high.

Once the binds were untied from his feet and hands he stood up, but his eyes went fuzzy, and he felt light-headed. He sat immediately back down. He looked around and realized the ropes that held him now held the Quiñonez couple. He couldn’t help but laugh at the sight of them both bickering at one another.

Luke turned to him from his work, “I thought this would work best. Should we leave them here for the cops to find?”

Matt placed a hand on Foggy’s face, “You’re hurt. They **_hurt_** you,” Matt practically growled it out and gave a murderous look at the Quiñonez couple.

They both shut up, and Wanda whispered to her wife, “He really did know Daredevil.”

“All of you should leave me here,” Foggy said.

“What!” “Why would we do that?” “No!” “Of course we can’t leave you here.” All the objections came at once.

“You guys are practically wanted by the cops,” Foggy explained. “You leave, I’ll wait for them and explain that the Defenders saved me.”

“He’s right,” Jessica conceded. Danny nodded and Luke hummed in agreement, it was only Matt who wasn’t agreeing.

“What about them?” Matt asked. He gestured at the couple, who looked scared out of their wits.

“They won’t say anything, and even then- so what if I know the Defenders? I’m a vigilante lawyer.”

Matt came closer to Foggy and whispered to him, “I’ll stay out of sight and keep an eye out. This time, I’m going to be there for you in the hospital.”

“I don’t doubt that,” Foggy responded.


	8. Avocados at Law : Epilogue

As expected, Matt was immediately by his side the moment he was in the hospital. Brett had just finished taking his statement when Matt walked in, cane in hand.

“You two bringing the gang back together?” Brett asked.

Matt walked up to the hospital bed, found a chair, sat down and held Foggy’s hand, “It seems that way.” He answered.

Brett raised an eyebrow and nodded, “About time, we’ve had a betting jar around the station.” Brett looked back at Foggy. “If you have anything else to add, just give me a call or come down to the station.”

“No problem, Brett.”

“You know I hate the smell of hospitals,” Matt’’s thumb rubbed comfortingly over Foggy’s hand. “Ever since I was a kid…even before my senses changed, I remember occasionally going to the hospital after my dad had a particularly bad fight. It smells so much like chemicals, and the entire- ambience. I don’t like the ambience. I had to go to the hospital once after Stick broke my wrist, I didn’t even notice until the nuns at the orphanage pointed out the swelling.”

“Matt,” Foggy’s eyebrows were knitted together in concern.

“I don’t want to ever see you in a hospital again Foggy…and I know that this didn’t happen because of me- I’m not saying that, but being who I am puts you in danger everyday,” Foggy sighed as Matt spoke. Of course he’d find a way to feel guilty, even when the entire situation had nothing to do with him.

“You and your Catholic guilt, Matt. Don’t start blaming yourself for things that are not your fault. This was due to my work at Hogarth, Chao, and Benowitz. No more, no less. If anything, this entire situation could have been much worse if we weren’t together,” Foggy gripped Matt’s hand harder. “You were the one who saved me, I’m safer with you here, not the other way around.”

“I want you to move in,” Matt looked nervous.

“I want to move in too…and Matt, I want to start Nelson and Murdock again.”

“What?” Matt raised his head up and let go of Foggy’s hand. “Do you really mean that?”

“Yes. I hated working with Hogarth, I’m constantly surrounded by people who just want to tear me down, and yeah I’m making money…but at what cost? I don’t care about the money, I became a lawyer to help people and I should be helping people. Not getting rich people off and stepping on the little guy.”

“I have ten million dollars,” Matt spoke so quickly that Foggy could barely interpret the statement.

“ ** _What?_** ”

“I…Elektra left me ten million dollars, after she died, I haven’t touched one cent of it, but I think it’s time that I do,” Matt put his hand on the back of his head and leaned back in the chair. “It’s a lot of money.”

“Yeah, that’s a lot of money Matt. That’s a shit ton of money, why didn’t you mention this before?”

“It didn’t feel relevant,” Matt clarified. “It felt wrong to touch the money, but I think that we deserve to be happy. We can stay in my apartment, and we can afford to run a legal clinic and eat what we want, and have what we want.”

“Luxuries,” Foggy thought of all the possibilities. “I can finally buy avocados Matt, do you know how expensive avocados are?”

“I know they’re expensive,” Matt laughed.

“We’re both avocados, Matt, we can finally eat avocados and be avocados.”

“It’s abogados, Foggy,” Matt leaned over and gave him a kiss. “I think we’re going to be okay.”

“I know we’re going to be okay,” Foggy kissed Matt again and both of them had never felt so happy in their lives. 


End file.
